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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26404258">Fight and Flight</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Misty_Reeyus/pseuds/Misty_Reeyus'>Misty_Reeyus</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>True Colors [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Magic Kaito</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Gen, Hurt No Comfort, Identity Reveal, everyone is just upset</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 11:28:43</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,208</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26404258</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Misty_Reeyus/pseuds/Misty_Reeyus</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Aoko unmasks the infamous Kaitou Kid.</p><p>Neither of them take it well.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>True Colors [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/527734</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>50</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Fight and Flight</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>the bitch FINALLY wrote part 2 holy shit pls clap</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Admittedly, the Kaitou Kid Capture Brigade does not always make for the most united front.</p><p>It’s a recurring problem, how individual members often forget to check in with everyone else during heists, but to a certain degree, Aoko is understanding of that. Sure, Akako-chan is cryptic and elusive over comms, but she’s just cryptic and elusive in general. Sure, Hakuba-kun tends to run off by himself, but that’s understandable since he spent his entire detective career before the brigade working alone. Sure, Kaito goofs around constantly, but in his case, Aoko is just glad he participates at all. Her teammates simply are who they are, and Aoko doesn’t blame them for that.</p><p>But<em> someone</em> has to be the reliable one, the anchor, the sturdy tether around which all the others’ leashes can be tied. Someone has to give regular reports and directions to everyone else, and usually, Aoko doesn’t mind that the role is thrust upon her. She’s the one who chose to recruit the others in the first place, she’s the founder and the leader, so of course she has to take on the majority of the responsibility.</p><p>That’s fine, most of the time. But occasionally, Aoko does get tired of constantly trying to give updates to a team that doesn’t always listen. So tonight, when Aoko notices something odd outside the window as she’s patrolling the east wing of the museum in the minutes before Kid’s announced arrival time, she doesn’t immediately voice her suspicions over the comms. Instead, she chooses to investigate by herself.</p><p>Aoko’s not even sure it’s important, really; it’s just that one of the cloth banners hanging from the roof of the museum isn’t quite moving naturally. Unlike the one on the other side of the building that’s fluttering lightly in the wind, this one seems almost <em>stuck</em> by comparison, as if something extra is keeping it tied down. It could very well be nothing, and Aoko doesn’t want to bother everyone else with a bad hunch if it is—and besides, it shouldn’t take long for her to check.</p><p>Accessing the banner is easy, just an elevator ride to the sixth floor and then a brief climb up a staircase to the correct rooftop deck. The fabric is attached to a sturdy railing on the roof’s edge, and when Aoko examines the pole, she notices something else hooked onto it. It’s rigging, the type used for climbing gear, and dangling down from it is a rope that conforms snugly to the back of the banner, well-hidden from anyone looking directly at the building.</p><p>Aoko squints her eyes as she stares down into the space between the cloth and the wall, and though it’s a little hard to see clearly in the darkness of night, the rope seems to lead right beside an awning somewhere on the second or third floor. It’s almost as if someone was planning to exit the museum via that window, then use the concealed rope and the cover of the banner to discreetly climb up onto the roof.</p><p>Did...did Aoko just find Kid’s escape route?</p><p>She moves almost without thinking, undoing the rigging and yanking the rope up bit by bit, coiling it up in her arms until the whole length is roughly folded into thirds. For a while, all she can do is stare at her own hands, awestruck, because she’s done it, she’s cut off Kid’s escape, she’s trapped him in the museum. This is really the point at which Aoko should report as much over the comms to her team, but before she can even think of saying anything, she registers the distinct thudding footsteps of someone dashing up the rooftop stairs.</p><p>She’s not sure why, but her instincts scream at her to <em>hide</em> and Aoko follows them, instantly running over to the large protruding section of air duct and ducking behind it. The person who erupts onto the roof not a second later is wearing an all too familiar bright white suit and top hat—so no, sadly, Aoko apparently didn’t hinder Kid’s escape at all. But then he makes towards the banner, the glint of what looks like a zip line harness in his gloved hand, and that just doesn’t make any <em>sense</em>. He’s already on the roof, he could easily open his hang glider and fly away, so why is he acting like he’s about to climb back down <em>into</em> the museum?</p><p>But the confusion is hastily shoved aside as Aoko realizes: this is her chance.</p><p>She rushes Kid from behind, and since the rope is still in her hands, she uses it, throwing it forward like a jump rope and then yanking him back once it’s ensnared around him. His first instinct will probably be to go for his sleeves, where Aoko is sure he has any number of tricks that could incapacitate her—sleeping gas, magic scarves, an army of killer doves, <em>whatever</em>. So before he can, Aoko quickly uses the ends of the rope to tie his hands together behind his back.</p><p>Honestly, she doubts that’ll hold him for very long; the tricky thief will surely find some way to slip out of her grasp and then render her unable to pursue. But though his escape is inevitable, Aoko is not actually aiming for a complete capture, she’s just aiming to get whatever information she can. So she shoves at Kid’s shoulders in coordination with a sweeping kick at his legs, and as he crumples to the ground, Aoko rolls him over so that he’s pinned on his back and looking wide-eyed up at her.</p><p>Aoko rushes to rip off his hat, then his monocle, allowing her to get a clear look at his scrunched up expression beneath the light of the moon. The face that stares up at her belongs to Kuroba Kaito, but that doesn’t surprise her so much as it makes her vision flash red—she already knows that Kid has a nasty habit of disguising himself as the people close to her father. Just another way to mess with the inspector.</p><p>Scowling, Aoko pinches Kid’s cheek and yanks as hard as she can.</p><p>The mask doesn’t give.</p><p>“W-wait, Ojou-chan, don’t—!” Kid gasps, and suddenly he doesn’t seem like a composed, confident, full-of-himself bastard; suddenly he seems so <em>weak</em>. Even his voice sounds just like Kaito’s, and hearing it go all shaky almost makes her heart waver in her chest, but Aoko promptly slams that instinct down. She won’t let herself feel even an ounce of pity for this utterly shameless criminal.</p><p>“What is with this mask?” Aoko snarls. “It won’t come off! What, did you superglue it to your face?!”</p><p>More footsteps resound, then a series of clangs as the roof’s door bursts open, but Aoko doesn’t so much as glance over. Familiar voices, Hakuba-kun and Akako-chan, rise in a chorus of yells, but Aoko still doesn’t let herself be distracted, doesn’t register any of their words. She’s too focused on Kid’s face, on pulling at it with all her strength, but the damn mask just refuses to tear away, and now it’s even turning pale beneath her fingers, almost as if it were actual skin. Infuriated, Aoko curls her nails, digs them in ever harder, grinds them down until they’re piercing through—</p><p>Crimson seeps out, and slick fluid washes warm over her fingertips, and the ever so faint but unmistakable scent of iron floats up to her nose.</p><p>Holy shit, that...that’s real blood.</p><p>Her fingers abruptly go limp, finally letting go of Kid’s abused, already visibly bruising cheek, and all Aoko can do is stare. Kid could probably easily get away from her now, but he’s not even trying to struggle anymore, he’s just staring right back at her with sad blue eyes. Cobalt blue—even in the dim moonlight, Aoko knows that <em>exact</em> shade of cobalt blue—and even if Kid was wearing the world’s most convincing colored contacts, there’s no way he could get the subtle quivering of his irises to be so real, so accurate, so <em>familiar</em>.</p><p>“...Kaito?” Aoko murmurs, and a pained wince flashes across that face, so fast she might have missed it if she’d blinked. That’s when she knows the truth for sure.</p><p>(<em>Or</em><em>,</em> a voice whispers in the back of her mind,<em> maybe </em><em>d</em><em>eep down, </em><em>you’</em><em>ve</em> <em>actually </em><em>known </em><em>th</em><em>e truth</em> <em>for a long, </em><em>long</em><em> time</em><em>.</em>)</p><p>He grins wide, disgustingly fake and a weak attempt at keeping the charade up. “Why yes, Ojou-chan, I certainly am a <em>kaitou</em>—”</p><p>“No,” Aoko cuts him off, a low growl from the back of her throat. “No, don’t...don’t give me that, Kaito. Don’t try to trick me this time because <em>it won’t work</em>.”</p><p>Kaitou Kid is Kuroba Kaito. His face is clear as day, unmistakable even in the low light, and it’s not a mask. If Aoko could, she would latch onto the possibility that it’s some doppelganger, someone who just so happens to look the same, but she can’t, because every glint of his eyes, every twitch of his body, every aspect of how he breathes in and out—all of it is now so clearly and unmistakably <em>Kaito</em>.</p><p>Kid doesn’t argue, simply glances over to the side almost pleadingly, and when Aoko follows his gaze, she finds herself looking at the entrance to the roof, at where Hakuba-kun and Akako-chan stand frozen in the doorway. At first, panic flashes through her as she thinks oh no, oh fuck, she just revealed Kid’s identity to them too—but then she really<em> sees</em> the expressions on their faces. Akako-chan looks grim, and Hakuba-kun looks <em>guilty</em>, but...</p><p>“You’re not surprised,” Aoko realizes, her heart dropping like a stone as the gears all click into place in her head. “Neither of you are surprised.”</p><p>Aoko doesn’t know how long she sits there, on her knees on the roof, staring blankly into space as her whole world crumbles around her. She doesn’t realize that she’s scrambling to her feet and running until she has to roughly shove Akako-chan aside in order to reach the stairs. Somehow, she manages to stumble her way down all six flights without outright <em>falling</em> down them, and then she’s bolting past the police officers and out the front doors and down the street in no particular direction at all.</p><p>The world is a blur and she doesn’t know where she’s going, she just knows she has to get <em>away</em>, and she only stops running when it becomes near-impossible to breathe. Aoko pauses, bending over to gasp for air as salty tears roll down her cheeks and seep into her mouth; a <em>ting</em> suddenly resounds from her purse, and she yanks out her phone purely on autopilot. There’s a single text notification from the contact [HAKUBA]:</p><p>[Please make sure you get home safe.]</p><p>...<em>Fuck</em> Hakuba. She’s not going home, she <em>can’t</em> go home, because knowing what she knows now, there is no way in hell she’ll be able to face Dad tomorrow morning.</p><p>After brief consideration, Aoko pops open the phone’s back panel, yanks out the SIM card just because there are <em>some</em> numbers on here that she does want to keep (Keiko has just become her best friend, Keiko might actually be her <em>only</em> friend now, and <em>wow</em> is that a sad thing to realize), and then throws the actual phone as hard as she can onto the sidewalk, not caring whether or not the damn thing shatters.</p><p>Aoko knows full well that phones can be tracked. She simply can’t have that.</p><p>Digging through her purse, she quickly takes stock of her belongings. A handkerchief, some chocolate bars (Kaito’s favorites, she literally carries them around for him, and even though she knows full well she needs to keep whatever food she has on her, that doesn’t stop her from suddenly<em> wanti</em><em>ng</em> to throw them all away), and her wallet. In terms of cash, she only has few small bills and scattered coins, but she also has an ATM card, so she should be able to get some money at the next 7-Eleven she comes across.</p><p>Aoko checks her watch. If she gets the money fast, she’ll then be able to make it to the nearest metro station before the lines stop operating for the night, and she’ll be long gone on a train before anyone even thinks of trying to track down her location. Her plan formed, Aoko hastily rubs the tears from her eyes and continues down the street, this time on the lookout for any signs that could direct her towards a convenience store. She still doesn’t know where she’s going, but wherever it is, she doesn’t want anyone she knows to be able to find her.</p><p>Not her dad, not her “teammates” from the Capture Brigade, and <em>especially</em> not Kaito.</p><hr/><p>“She wasn’t supposed to be here.” Kaito is the one who finally speaks, finally breaks the silence that’s been permeating this roof ever since Aoko ran off. “She wasn’t supposed to be on the roof. She didn’t say anything on the comms about being on the roof.”</p><p>“Yes, well,” Hakuba says, sounding self-loathing and bitter and that<em> doesn’t help</em>, “none of us have been great about reporting into the comms when we change positions, have we?” He pulls out his pocket watch, begins absentmindedly fiddling with it as if attempting to comfort himself. “We just didn’t think she’d do it, too.”</p><p>Akako approaches Kaito, helps guide him up into a sitting position, then leans her lips in close to his ear and whispers, so low that Hakuba can’t hear, “My precognitive magic was so focused on identifying <em>external</em> threats. The crows, the police, any lone detectives.” Her tone is uncharacteristically sheepish, almost an apology. “But this...this outcome never even occurred to me.”</p><p>Kaito realizes then that they all made the same mistake. Aoko was always so transparent with the rest of the brigade, so quick to inform everyone of where she was and why. She trusted in them to do the same, and even as they all abused that trust, none of them ever accounted for the possibility that her own patience might actually run out.</p><p>“Should one of us go after her?” Hakuba chimes in again, looking at a loss. “What if she tells someone?”</p><p>Kaito shakes his head. He thinks he can feel his lip trembling, but fuck it, let it tremble. No point bothering to keep up with poker face when everyone here already knows. “If she wants to tell, it’s not like any of us will be able to stop her. Hell, if she wants to tell, she probably already has.” The entire task force is just downstairs, after all. “No, just let her go. It doesn’t matter anymore.”</p><p>Hakuba bites his lip, but nods in apparent acquiescence, then pulls out his phone and begins typing something into it. Kaito furrows his brow but doesn’t bother to ask what he’s texting or to whom; he just stays quiet and sits obligingly still as Akako begins untying his hands. Honestly, Kaito doesn’t even need her help—he’s got a razor blade up his sleeve that he could easily flick into his palm and use to cut himself free—but what would be the point?</p><p>In retrospect, Kaito’s not sure how hard he was trying to get away earlier, either. Sure, he was caught by surprise, and sure, he wasn’t in the best condition to fight anyone off with his leg still healing after having been shot a few weeks ago. But if it had been someone else who’d caught him—a task force member or a man in black or just <em>anyone else at al</em><em>l</em>—he thinks he would have been able to pull off an escape somehow.</p><p>As soon as he realized that the person on top of him was Aoko, though, he just <em>f</em><em>roze</em>. In that moment, Aoko had the Kaitou Kid entirely at her mercy.</p><p>(Maybe she’d actually have been able to get him like that a lot sooner if not for all the active, conscious sabotage on Kaito’s part.)</p><p>The tension around his wrists loosens and the rope is pulled away, and Kaito mutters a low thanks to Akako as Hakuba walks up to them both. He’s carrying Kid’s top hat, which had been blown over by the wind a few paces after being ripped off his head; Kaito accepts it and then also retrieves his nearby fallen monocle. He puts both back on, but the shielding of his face no longer brings the comfort it otherwise would, and under Hakuba and Akako’s concerned gazes, he still feels so naked and exposed.</p><p>Akako reaches up to thumb at his cheek, causing a slight sting as she brushes over the cuts left by Aoko’s fingernails. But they’re not that deep, aren’t even really bleeding anymore, and after they scab over, Kaito will be able to just cover with a little makeup. Such a superficial injury is <em>nothing</em> compared to the pain of his very soul tearing itself apart.</p><p>“So what now?” Akako whispers.</p><p>With nobody to keep up an appearance to, there’s no point in reappearing downstairs as Kuroba Kaito. There remains no point in going after Aoko. He’s got the jewel he came for tucked in his breast pocket, and whether or not he’s just been majorly busted to the police, he can’t bear to stick around and find out.</p><p>Kaitou Kid has to go. <em>Now</em>.</p><p>He doesn’t know how Hakuba and Akako are gonna explain tonight to the police, but he doesn’t care. Turning away from them, he sprints straight to the edge of the roof and leaps, diving almost beseechingly into the open air. For a while as he’s free falling, with his hand perched precariously on the switch that turns his cape into a hang glider, he doesn’t know whether or not he’s actually going to push the button.</p><p>He does, ultimately, his wings quickly catching an updraft and allowing him to soar up and away. Kaito isn’t sure whether he’s relieved or disappointed.</p><p>Police sirens ring out, squad cars give pursuit, and Kaito viciously reminds himself that he needs to maintain his poker face. He’s still in public, people are still looking up and watching him, the show is still going and he has to see it through to the end. But once he dips behind the cover of a tall skyscraper, he takes his chance, promptly descending into a back alley and covering up his flashy white outfit with the black hooded robe he often uses to disappear.</p><p>He folds his wings just a hint sooner than he ought to, dropping to the ground from a height that sends painful jolts up his legs when he lands. But standing is pointless anyway so he instead slumps back against a dusty wall, sinks down until he’s sitting on the grimy sidewalk, and heaves for breath as he waits for the police cars to pass by. The sirens eventually become a distant, barely audible <em>whee-whoo</em> down the road—and that means the show is over, that means his poker face is no longer needed.</p><p>Clutching at his face, Kaito curls up into a ball and sobs.</p>
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